Nighting Lyre
by Luna Claire
Summary: My first story is undergoing quite a bit of construction to prepare it for professional publication. Please R&R!


The Introduction  
  
It all happened a few years before Morning Harp met King Grupint, fell in love, and got married. It came to pass that Morning Harp loved walking through the forest, one day as she walked she came across a one-story thatched-roof cottage. The inside of the cottage was much larger than the outside and she new at once that it was enchanted. Within the cottage lived an enchantress, her husband (a magician), and their seven sons, who ranged between the ages of 2 and 8. Th enchantment upon the cottage made it look like a multi-story house on the inside a one-story house on the outside. Morning Harp went there nearly every day, and within a matter of two years she was married and Nighting Lyre was born. In fact, she actually gave birth to Nighting Lyre at that very cottage and returned to the castle acting just as normal as ever with the babe in her arms. Within the next two years she learned all she needed to know about magic and was given a dictionary of faery folk which would be given to Nighting Lyre on her seventeenth birthday, but only if things were to go as Morning Harp had planned. With the knowledge of magic comes the wisdom of how to use it. The use of more than one kind of magic (such as elemental magic, animagic, blood magic, mirror/reflective magic, candle magic, potions, spells, rituals, or any kind of combination including what hasn't been mentioned) makes you either a magician or an enchantress, depending on the gender of the magic user. Morning Harp specialized in astrological, astronomical, dream, and reflective magic. For this reason, while working in the mines, Laird, head of the household of enchanters living within the forest, made her the two bedazzled mirrors. The Mirror of Outer Charms and Inner Curses and the Mirror of Outer Curses and Inner Charms. He made them to spy upon all, one was to spy at times when the sun hides from view and the other was to spy whenever the moon does not show itself to the world. These gifts were to signify that Queen Morning Harp was officially now an enchantress. Morning Harp and King Grupint (her husband) were hopelessly in love with one another. Little did they know, the head lady-in-waiting to Morning Harp was an evil sorceress that believed she herself to deserve the crown. One night, Morning Harp went to check on Nighting Lyre since she was screaming in fright, the sorceress stole the only mirror she new to be made from magic. She took the Mirror of Outer Charms and Inner Curses, which was not a sight for sore eyes, and left the enchantress (Queen Morning Harp) with only the Mirror of Outer Curses and Inner. The next night the enchantress had Lord Madison (her trusted advisor) hide somewhere within the room to keep anything from happening again. The sorceress came with a specific curse in mind. She used a curse to put the enchantress into a mirror. What the sorceress did not realize, and is still yet to realize, was that the mirror she cursed the enchantress into was the Mirror of Outer Curses and Inner Charms. Then, in order to not arouse any suspicions or chaos within the castle, she formed a lifeless shell of a woman resembling the identical features of the enchantress. The sorceress left just as dawn approached so she wouldn't get caught, Lord Madison left his hiding place and took the Mirror of Outer Curses and Inner Charms with him. He knew it would be best if let everyone believe her dead, but getting rid of the queen he would leave to King Grupint. King Grupint and Lord Madison made plans for Princess Nighting Lyre to receive the mirror on her sixteenth birthday, for she would be the same age that her mother had met the family of enchanters. That way her learning magic and so forth would go at the same pace as her mother had when studying to become an enchantress. That meant no procrastinating and no rushing, but she can only live in the castle and do her magic studies there in secret for one year, but only if the sorceress was still at large. At that time it would become too dangerous and she would have to leave the castle to continue her studies at the cottage. If the plan were to get screwed up so how, Nighting Lyre would probably lose all chances of ever getting to know her own mother, the good-of-heart Queen Morning Harp. Something went wrong, Grupint was supposed to try and get the sorceress out of the picture. Yet before he could she enchanted him, the enchantment caused them to be married. Then, she trapped the king in the Mirror of Outer Charms and Inner Curses because she couldn't kill the king, but because he was sent into the mirror he was freed from the previous enchantment. Since he was in the mirror the sorceress (now queen) had no choice but to fake his death, and she did with the greatest of ease. Lord Madison would have fallen into the deadly trap of doubt had he known how to doubt the daughter of the good queen, Morning Harp.  
The Story  
  
Long ago, in a place we think never existed, there lived a pure-of-soul princess named Nighting Lyre. She looked exactly like her mother. Her hair was so dark a shade of red it looked like blood flowing down her back, she had a true woman's figure, and her eyes looked like two emeralds, yet ever vast and mysterious as a forest. Their kingdom was known as Sidrylinystica, and it was known to be the most wonderful of all the lands. Her mother died when she was so young she could only remember the song her mother used to sing her to sleep with. She had only Lord Madison's stories to tell her what a wonderful lady she was, and only the portraits in the halls to help form a picture of her mother within her mind. Lord Madison often made remarks on how the portraits had never really captured her mother's true beauty. Nighting Lyre's mother had the greatest kind of beauty. A beauty that can't fade away with age. Her mother carried the ever elusive Inner Beauty.  
  
Nighting Lyre lived a happy life, for the most part. She loved the long walks she would take through the palace gardens. Yet her favorite thing to do would have to be dressing as a peasant and playing with the children of the outer provinces of Sidrylinystica. Nighting Lyre loved everyone she'd ever met, almost everyone. The queen was the only person that Nighting Lyre had come to dislike, but held her tongue lest she be given a cruel punishment far worse than the ones she received for being in the same hallway as the queen. The queen was the most beautiful woman to ever walk the earth, true, but only on the outside. On the inside she was a villainous ill-breeding harpy that was incapable of ever understanding even the twenty-first century definition of love. In addition, she showed her true ways to all but every good-looking man she ever laid eyes on. She acted especially evil to Nighting Lyre, for she despised her modest looks and good-natured ways. It wasn't until her sixteenth year though that all of her troubles with the queen would intensify to the utmost limit and beyond. Since the queen despised her so much, she had banned all celebration of Nighting Lyre's birthday. This did not stop the servants from secretly throwing birthday party's for the young princess every year. Nighting Lyre was happy for the distraction from having to put up with the queen, but was always worried she might find them out and give them some macabre punishment. "Once again my birthday is the best day of my life, and it's all your fault. One of these days I am going to break down crying because of the way you spoil me. I really don't deserve this, you do realizing you're risking your lives throwing me a birthday party every year," she said. As everyone had expected she had grown to be just as kind as her mother, it was said that that was one her many charms. "Of course you deserve it," her royal tutor, Lord Madison, said, "Would we have gone through all this trouble if you didn't. You are too wary for the good of others. Enjoy yourself, it's your birthday"! Nighting Lyre knew that her tutor was right so she let the matter go and went on to play all sorts of different games until sunset. Then they departed to go on with their usual evening duties. When she returned to her room she saw a package lying on her bed. The card read:  
  
Dear Nighting Lyre, This may or may not seem like an appropriate gift for you, but if you sing my lullaby to it something wonderful will happen. Your Mother,  
  
Queen Morning Harp  
  
Filled with utter confusion for receiving a gift from the mother she never knew, she opened the package only for her gaze to be met by an object she herself had never possessed before. A hand mirror. It was made of sterling silver and looked as though it were covered with silver rose vines. At that moment, she started breathing just in time to keep herself from fainting, why would her mother give her a mirror? She read the card silently to herself again, and sang the song while looking at the mirror.  
  
"Mirror, mirror in my hand, Who's the loveliest girl in the land? Looking glass tell me, looking glass, And who is the match made for that lass. Mirror, mirror bring me a vision, Of something other than my reflection. Looking glass, looking glass use the wall, To answer my questions one and all."  
  
As she finished singing the last word a picture of herself formed on the wall, and as that picture faded away it showed the shadow of a man. When the shadow went away a face appeared. The face of a woman. As Nighting Lyre studied the face she realized who it was. Her mother. "That was a very cruel joke you played on me. I am not the fairest and you know it. The new queen is," she said angry with her mother not because of the vision, but because she felt her mother had abandoned her. "Don't be angry little one, the mirror only shows the inner truth. It is beautiful on the outside to show that it reveals inner beauty and outer ugliness. I think the new queen has the other mirror of truth" "Wait just a moment and back up. How is this possible?" "I am an enchantress. Enchantresses are like magicians, they learn magic. Actually it's more like they unleash the power within themselves. We all have magic within ourselves, it's just a matter of what kind of magic is within us. The new queen is evil of heart and soul, just as the magic within her is. When she released her magic she became a sorceress." "I thought if you used evil magic that made you a witch?" "No, witches, warlocks, and the young ones known as wizards and wizardesses are more of a kind of clown than anything else." "I thought magicians were clowns?" "No, magicians are a good version of sorcerers." "And the same goes for enchantresses being a good type of sorceresses?" "Precisely." "I understand now, please continue." Nighting Lyre said wearily. "That mirror, you are holding, is the brother of another mirror that shows the truth about physical beauty and inner ugliness. This is what makes it an unwelcome sight for resting your eyes upon. You must be careful from now on, very careful. Use the mirror to contact me only during nights of the new moon, the moon acts as a spy for the new queen. I must go now, and remember, during the day you can use the sun as a spy through the mirror. I must go now the moon is rising. Goodnight Little Dearie." "Goodnight Mother." That night she went to bed confused, and afraid for her life, and for the mirror. The next day Nighting Lyre didn't know what to think. She had found the mirror the next day on her bedside table, but knew not what to make of it. Was her confrontation with her mother a dream? How could she possibly even be the loveliest of all the girls in the land? Especially on the inside! She had so many questions that she went to confront her tutor who was supposed to be a scholar in all fields. "Well," he started once she had told him all that she could remember, "your mother has very good timing. You wouldn't believe the trouble I had trying to get that thing into your room. Now all you have to do is get the other one." "First of all, I don't understand why you didn't just hand it to me instead of sneaking it into my room, and why you didn't teach me the correct order of magical things. Instead of waiting for mother to." "That was her decision not mine, and I wasn't going to let her come back with a reason to hurt me. She may be the most good-natured woman I ever met, but when she gets angry you definitely wouldn't want to be the one she's angry with." "Mothers are always like that." For the rest of the day Nighting Lyre and her tutor talked about how it was that these things had come to pass. Lord Madison told her the part of the story that included the sorceress and his helping Queen Morning Harp. When Lord Madison finished Nighting Lyre still had questions that needed to be answered. How had her mother come to receive these powers of hers? How had her mother come to possess the mirrors? Why was it her mother hadn't planned for them to meet earlier? Why was it she could only use the mirror she now possessed during only the times in which the moon is not present? Lord Madison knew he needed to answer each of her questions. So he did by telling the whole story of Morning Harp's becoming an enchantress. At that moment when he finished explaining everything, Nighting Lyre realized something. Her not reacting stunned to her mother's appearing to her was part of another of her mother's magic specialties. Dream Magic, for her mother had sung in her dreams, since she disappeared into the mirror, their lullaby. That was the reason she still remembered it. Even after all those years. That night Nighting Lyre, with her new mirror at hand, went into the woods, then known as the Eastern Elms, to search for the cottage her mother met the enchanters in all those years ago. Luckily for her, her tutor, Lord Madison, was a magician, was able to give her a charmed lantern to carry through the woods that would never burn out. After two hours of walking she started to become nervous. No, she wasn't nervous. She was suddenly aware of someone, or something, watching her. Which is often mistaken as being nervous. She stopped for a moment. Stopped walking and stopped breathing. She heard something. She heard It, whatever It was. She heard It. She could hear It breathe. She heard It take a few steps and stop right being her. Everything became silent and calm all of a sudden. The gentle breeze was gone. No longer did the free hairs from her loose braid tickle the back of her neck. As slowly as she possibly could, she reached for her boot dagger. She took grip of the handle and then heard It again. It was stepping up closer but off to the left a little. Her right hand grew sweaty as she tightened her grip, determined not to drop the dagger. She straightened very slowly and held the mirror to her bosom, hoping that if it were a robber she could keep it and her mother's trapped soul safe. Then what felt like a hand and must have belonged to It clasped her shoulder. She spun to the right and thrust the handle of the dagger into the center of what was apparently a man's back. She put the mirror into the bag she had slung over her shoulder, wrapped her left arm around what was confirmed later as his neck, and held the dagger to his heart. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." He managed through her choking him; "I know who you are, Princess, my mother sent me out here to fetch you. You must have circled our house dozens of times." "Funny I don't remember this part of the woods." She answered loosening her grip only slightly. "So how could I have possibly passed your house, let alone any house"? Shoving himself three feet away from her, who didn't seem to have reacted to his rude pushing, he answered, "I was moving the trees to see how long it would be until you realized something was going on." "Oh really, and how is it that you are able to move trees?" "I am the seventh son of the magician and enchantress your mother befriended about eighteen years ago." Nighting Lyre was shocked. She didn't know what to think. Had she just offended him greatly? She sure hoped not, it isn't safe offending someone who's in touch with their magical self. After her internal panic attack when trying to find out what to do with herself, she apologized and asked for his name. It was Eagan; he was seventh son to Laird, and four years older than her. She introduced herself and tried to take in his appearance as she usually would after meeting someone, but it was so dark she couldn't make out his features. His silhouette though, strangely enough, looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't remember from where. She decided not to worry about what it was he looked like until they were back at his home. It didn't take long because he used a traveling spell to get them there. It was absolutely lovely. On the outside it looked like a one-story stone cottage with a thatched-roof with a round little door in the shape of a perfect semicircle. The door opened and out came a round little woman, she had sapphire-like eyes that twinkled with stardust and hair the color of beautifully polished cherry wood. It was Leah, Eagan's mother, the only enchantress living in the house that she knew of. "Nighting Lyre! I haven't seen you since the day you were born. They wouldn't let your mother bring you back after that one. The fools, but now you're here and we can start all over again." She quickly ushered Nighting Lyre toward the house. Once within the house, Nighting Lyre immediately noticed a second enchantment. The house had been enchanted to increase the number of floors on the inside whenever space was needed, and the present number of stories at the time seemed infinite, and there was a great number of people hustling and bustling . . . and . . . could it be? . . . Yes, it was true, there were Children! Nighting Lyre became overjoyed as she saw a group of children playing tag all over the place. Then she realized something. They were only boys. No girls at all. Eight boys and absolutely no girls. It didn't matter of course, it just seemed a little odd, that's all. A little odd. Seeing the smile on Nighting Lyre's face as she spotted the children Leah introduced the family. "This is Benjamin, his wife Benita, and their son Benson. Then there's Adam, his wife Adamina, and their son Addison. Then Harold, the eldest, his wife Harmony, and the triplets Barry, Harry, and Parry. This is David, his wife Davan, and their twins Davis and Dawson. The one there in the corner with a mug or rum is Richard, the lass sitting on his lap is Rianna, and the short stringy boy in the opposite corner is their son Dixon. Somewhere upstairs, with his wife, Willow, is William, and the other set of twins, Willis and Wilson. They're newborns so they've all been up there for the past week trying to calm their nightmares. As you can see I have introduced all but my husband, Laird. That would be because he's out gathering ingredients for a spell we've been trying to master for the past month." Just then,Richard, who seemed to have just awakened from a very deep sleep, chimed in, "You forgot Eagan and his lot, Mother!" He said in an unmistakable sneer. "Not funny," Eagan started, "you know very well I have no wife nor have I any children." "And why may I ask," began Nighting Lyre, "would that be." "Because our little brother, here, is waiting for true love to strike his heart like a thunderbolt!" Came a voice from upstairs, which must have been William, and when he finished the remark the rest of Eagan's brothers began to laugh quietly to themselves. Eagan stood ashamed next to the door, his head bowed and eyes lowered, and Nighting Lyre just stood there looking at him kindly. Then everyone noticed the way she gazed at him and grew silent. Noticing the strange silence, he slowly lifted his head. He and Nighting Lyre made eye contact, but neither looked away. She now noticed his charming features. His hair was the color of the earth; his eyes seemed to be made of a small portion of the sky, shone like the stars, and were as vast and timeless as the sea. Slowly without realizing it, they had been taking steps closer and closer to each other, now they stood only inches apart. He reached out and took her into his arms, and on a complete overwhelming, uncontrollable impulse they kissed. She flushed a deep shade of scarlet as the blood within her cheeks boiled and she went weak at the knees and found herself completely depending upon his strength to support her. In a way she barely even noticed, she was too caught up in this feeling of ecstasy. She could only barely hear a small voice like that of a child's say "Is it just me or is there anyone else that thinks he just got hit by that lightning bolt." Then the room seemed to fade away as she wondered within the depths of her mind whether or not it was his shadow that she had seen that night when she was given the mirror. Then the thoughts drained away as she felt him lift her up and realized that he was carrying her to his bedroom. She didn't mind though, for at that moment all she ever wanted or would ever need that night was him. His soul. His heart. And especially, his mind and body. The next morning Eagan awoke to find that last night had actually happened and wasn't a dream. For Nighting Lyre was still in bed with him, in his arms, and with her head upon his chest. He lay there looking at her, wondering if true love really had hit him like a lighting bolt last night. It sure felt that way to him, but he couldn't be sure. There was something about her though. Something in her eyes. Something in her kiss. Something about her that made him a little confused. Something that couldn't be explained. Something that made him love her even more. He felt like he was floating high up on a cloud with an absolute angel in his arms. It was the happiest he had ever felt in his entire life. As soon as he realized this she began to stir. She turned her head a little and looked up into his eyes. He felt as though she were looking into the depths of his soul. Just then, his bedroom door and Willow walked in with a tray of food for two. Her shoulder length raven colored hair looked to have not even been brushed yet, but she had a lavender piece of fabric sloppily tied over it, bringing out the deep royal violet of her eyes. "Good morning young lovers," she said a little too blissfully, he knew right away what she and William had done that night when they finally got Willis and Wilson to sleep. "I trust you slept well, if you even slept at all that is. I have for you some of Mother Nature's best recipes." "Mother Nature?" Nighting Lyre started questionably hugging the quilt tightly to herself to keep herself from showing, "Who is Mother Nature?" "That's what we call your lover boy's mother. Mostly from the fact that her main magic is earthy magic, and it shows in her food. She sent me to give you breakfast since you didn't show up as promptly as she had hoped." "Wait a minute. Breakfast? It's time for breakfast!" "Actually it's almost time for lunch, but don't worry we'll make sure you don't miss dinner." "Lunch! I need to get back to the castle, the queen will be furious with me I know it!" "Willow," Eagan started, "pack this up. We'll eat it on the way there." "We," began Nighting Lyre, "what do you mean we?" "I mean I'm coming with you." "No you're not," she stated as she reached for her garments. She looked at him, but not as she had before. She didn't look into his soul through his eyes, but looked at him. Eagan thought within his mind that perhaps she was trying to come up with a reasonable explanation as to how she had let herself do what she had done last night. He grabbed his pants, put them on, and ushered Willow out of the room. He then turned to Nighting Lyre, her expression unknown. Unknown to him anyway. Just as his expression was unknown to her. She felt weak and vulnerable. She knew not what to expect from him. What had happened to her the night before that caused her to allow him take her truest purity? How was it that whenever she looked into his eyes now that her heart would become heavy and hurt and her blood would boil within her? Why was it she feels eternal bliss when in his arms and blissful agony when she wasn't? Eagan felt exactly the same way, but neither of them felt they were of liberty to say at that moment. He walked to a trunk made of cherry wood with carvings like that of her mirror and pulled out four cloaks. Two were navy blue, and the other two were forest green. He put on one of the blue ones covering himself completely. Then he took it off revealing it's enchantment. It was able to clothe or unclothe whoever wore it, depending on whether or not the were planning to wear something. He handed her the other blue cape and she put it on. It was then that she realized that it was made of crushed velvet with satin lining. She took it off only to discover that it hadn't worked. "Think of what you want to wear today," Eagan instructed. She put it on and thought of what she had decided to wear that day before she left the castle last night. Her body started tingling all over and then the tingling died away. She made sure it was completely gone before she took it off, that way she could make sure she didn't screw anything up. Eagan could tell that she was a little worried about getting the spell right, but when she took the cape he was taken by surprise. For there she stood in a peasant's clothes. It seemed strange to him at the time that a princess would wear that particular type of clothing. "The green ones are cloaks of invisibility," he started, "they will be used to get us within the castle without any trouble." "Fine, but I still don't understand why you're coming along." "To protect you of course, such is my duty now that we are Bound." After he said this he realized that she didn't know anything about the laws of magic. "What do you mean Bound? Are you talking about last night? Are you saying we're married?" "The meaning Bound is somewhat hard to explain. It has to do with love a number of other things I'll explain it later. Yes, I mean last night. And we are somewhere along the lines of marriage, yes. Any other questions?" She couldn't answer out of shock so he ended the conversation by saying, "No? Then I suggest we leave before people notice you're gone. Get your things together and let's get going I'll be waiting outside with my things and the green capes." He left Nighting Lyre alone to collect her things and her thoughts and sent Rianna to help her. Rianna was of an average height with corkscrew strawberry-blond curls and icy blue eyes. She was holding a strange bag that apparently you can fit as much stuff into it and it won't become heavy even in the slightest. They were still packing when Nighting Lyre decided she should get some answers out of her. "Rianna," she started, "how is it that I am Bound to Eagan?" "By what you did last night." "How does that bind me to him?" "When a magician does that he involuntarily casts a certain spell. This spell makes it so that when there is only one thing left that could possibly keep you together, it will come into existence and make itself known." "What do you mean by only one thing left that could possibly keep us together? Do you mean a child?" "It depends on the situation. A three children were formed when Harold swore his love after Harmony had been betrothed to another Binding them. Davan and Willow came close to dying so twins were formed for both couples. As for the rest of us with only one child each, each of those conceptions forced us to end feuds. You really need to be careful about the situation of your relationship, there are numerous things that could come out of it. Just look at Laird and Leah, the first seven years of marriage they had a child each. From every time she felt she had an excess of love within her heart that she needed to give someone. After a while it died down of course, but now with all the children her heart started all over again. Laird says we're lucky to have so many children around, they keep her from having more." At this thought the two started laughing and Adamina walked in. She was of the same height and had frosty lilac eyes and fiery red hair. She looked at them with scolding eyes and said rather pleasantly, "You explained what Binding is didn't you?" Nighting Lyre stopped laughing yet her smile stayed broad as she replied, "The funny thing is that Eagan said it was hard to explain and would do it later." "That's what Adam said and the next thing I know I'm with child, getting married, and our fathers are ending a family feud." "I hear that's what happened with each one of you with only one child." "Let's hope that the feud between good and evil doesn't force a bundle of joy upon you as well." "At least not for another year," added Rianna and again they all laughed as they finished packing. Just as he had said, he was waiting for her outside with only his trunk at hand. Apparently the same spell that was on her bag was also upon it. He walked up to her, without knowing what the other was thinking they hid their yearning to drop their things and further their Bindings to each other. The only thing he did though was to give her a small kiss of greeting. Why was it one minute they were confused and distraught and the next they felt humbling obsession over one kiss? They both thought it to be love, but both looked to the prospect that perchance it was their being Bound to one another. Yet only time would tell. Nighting Lyre and Eagan put on the cloaks of invisibility when the reached the edge of the forest. It took much longer than it should have to get there, but the was most likely because that as they traveled they bickered. As they bickered they became a little too impassioned, and had found themselves taking a few "breaks" too many. By the time they reached the edge of the forest Nighting Lyre had a pretty good guess on how being Bound to someone works. Apparently when anything threatens to separate them, even the smallest of fights, they are drawn to each other. Yet that still didn't explain how she had let herself into his bed in the first place, but it didn't matter. Not now anyway. There were too many important things to be taken care of anyway. Eagan explained to Nighting Lyre that a second enchantment on the cloaks they had put on made it so that only they would be able to hear and see each other. No one else would be able to see or hear them, but Eagan and Nighting Lyre would be able to see and hear everything. Including each other. Land they would travel between the forest and the castle didn't have many places for them to hide. Which meant that they had to be careful to not get into any more arguments, though the fact still remained that when they weren't lying in his bed, up against his bedroom wall, his bedroom door, his bedroom floor, the forest floor, up against a tree, or just in each other's arms at any moment they didn't get along at all whatsoever. In spite of this fact, they were able to get to know each other very well while traveling through the outer provinces to the castle. As they got to know one another they realized how on the same wavelength they were. As this information became more and more true they found themselves feeling intimate emotions for each other more frequently than just when they started fighting. They didn't reach the castle until a short time after dinner, but Lord Madison somehow knew that she wouldn't be back until then and had arranged with the servants to do all that they could to keep the king and king from suspecting anything. He was very surprised to find out however that Eagan and Nighting Lyre were now Bound to each other, and didn't like the fact that this meant that Eagan would have to secretly live within the castle in order for the powers of their Binding to keep from create hundreds of little children. Surely that would have aroused queen's inquisitiveness. Nighting Lyre knew right away that her old tutor didn't like her new "husband", but she kept telling him that conceivably, in due course, the idea will grow on him. Lord Madison didn't like it at all, and one Sunday morning when he used the mirror to speak to her mother she found out that her mother wasn't at all ecstatic about it. If truth be told, her mother actually apprehended that it would make matters worse and the amount of time she had to stay in the castle in order to get the other mirror back and receive the facsimile of the dictionary of faery folk of the world would become, in fact, shorter by the minute. Meaning that actually the sooner they left the castle for good, the better. It became ever more true with every passing day that life became dangerous to a greater extent. For Nightign Lyre and Eagan found it very hard to try and keep out of the sight of the sorceress, but they knew that they needed to find a place where the sorceress wouldn't be able to find them. On the contrary, they found that the home of the enchanters was their best shot, but Nighting Lyre needed to be at the castle in order to keep from begetting any suspicions about what was going on. Planning was the most difficult thing about their situation; yet, Eagan had a plan that just may have worked, and Nighting Lyre would never forgive herself for letting him do it. Never.. Eagan's plan was this; that Lord Madison would take the Mirror of Outer Curses and Inner Charms to his family's home in the forest while he and Nighting Lyre went to take the other mirror. Eagan, while wearing a cloak of invisibility, would go with Nighting Lyre and take the mirror. She didn't like the plan though. She didn't want him to risk his life. She knew that if he was caught that he would surely be killed, and if that were to happen who knows what their "Bindings" would do to bring them together again. "Darling," he said soothingly, "Do not fear for me. By the sun, moon, and stars we will always be together. Perhaps not in the same room, but always in each other's hearts. Always living through the love we have. No matter what happens I will love you, and be with you, for forever and a day." "How do you know its even love? What if it's just a very intense infatuation? How can you be so sure?" "I have never felt this way, ever. Suddenly with you in my life the world I have always known seems so perfect it's killing me. If that isn't love than I don't know what possibly could be." He was right, and she knew it. She even felt the same way. She had to trust him. That would be denying her heart, denying her feelings that no one could possibly fight. No matter what happened. the love she felt for him would never diminish. They would get through this. In the end - when the threat of the queen was gone, her mother and father saved, and life was back to the norm - they would be together, happy, and in love. " . . . Forever and a day." That evening Nighting Lyre and Eagan said goodbye to Lord Madison as he started on the voyage to the forest. Fortunately for Lord Madison, Eagan got a message to his home to tell them that Lord Madison was coming. Nighting Lyre's heart grew heavy as she watched her father figure leave her, but she kept back her tears as she remembered that she'd be with him again very soon. Eagan pulled her close in a comforting hug and then drew the cloak around her, and another around himself making them both invisible. Then told her it was time. The castle seemed dark and eerie as they climbed a spiral staircase to the western wing, where the queen slept. As they came closer and closer to her room the carvings on the walls became gradually more gruesome. These horrific carvings told a story, a story that made Nighting Lyre's heart become heavier than it had ever been in her entire existence. Eagan made a signal for her to stay there, stepped up to the door, and hesitated to open it. The handles resembled the heads of children no more than the age of two or three enduring the greatest amount of agony ever to be felt by any soul ever to come into existence. They were so lifelike he could practically hear them screaming in excruciating pain for mercy. Mustering all of his courage Eagan slowly brought his hands up to the handles and pulled. For some strange reason the doors wouldn't budge. He struggled pulling and pulling at the handles until he decided to use a spell, but just as he raised his hands to perform the incantation Nighting Lyre stepped in his way and pushed the doors open. He felt like such a fool for not realizing that the doors opened inward, but this feeling was overcome by terror as his eyes wandered into the room. It was the most horrible room ever to come into existence and was even worse than what you could possibly imagine. Everything was PINK!!! The pillows, sheets, blankets, bedposts, walls, floor, vanity, curtains, window pain, and more. It was ALL pink! Seeing the look of terror on his face she felt obliged to ask, "Eagan, my darling, are you alright?" "Everything thing is. . . . is," he couldn't even bring himself to say the word. "I know, it's pink. It's her favorite color. As it is I suppose for everyone whose mind operates in the manner of the stereotypical-dumb- blonde's." "You could've warned me." "No I couldn't've. I have never been within the queen's bedchamber, it is as much a shock for you as it is for me." "Doesn't seem like it. You didn't even wince when you opened the doors." "Remind me to show you the hall she uses for 'family' dinners. I nearly have a heart attack every time I walk in, and, in case you still need another clue, this room is nothing compared to that one." "Sure, fine, whatever, okay, let's just get the mirror and get the hell out of here." They looked around the room reluctantly and saw hundreds of small mirrors covering the walls with pink framework and floral carvings. There was one large mirror connected to the vanity which also had pink framework but much more floral design. Eagan looked at this mirror for a moment and then said, "I'm taking a wild guess and saying that this one is it. It's ugly enough if you ask me." "You can't be serious. Use your head Eagan do you really think that could possibly be it. I thought you were a magician." "I am but what does that have to do with anything?" "I don't know, but right before I said that something happened. There was this surge of energy telling me that the big pink mirror isn't the one we're looking for and anyone of any truly magical blood would be able to know that it's hidden." "You got all of that from one quickly felt surge of energy?" "Yes." "Where did this 'surge' of energy come from?" "It came from that side of the room." She pointed toward the wall which the queen's bed was up against. An obviously pink curtain surrounded the bed. Eagan on a sudden impulse thinking that there may be some telepathic evil beast there stepped in front of her to draw the curtain himself. That way, if there were anything there, he could achieve enough time for Nighting Lyre to runaway. Out of an immeasurable amount of subtly hidden fear he stopped breathing, and then cautiously opened the curtain. The bed was completely covered with something even more terrifying than a Basilisk. In Eagan's opinion anyway. It was covered with fluffy, furry pink stuffed animals that had bright pink gems for eyes. "I am not touching any of them, regardless of anything you say I'll never ever touch them." Eagan said after a few moments of awkward silence. "Never." "Well I never asked you to now did I?" "No, I only said it because if you decide to do the same thing than you can't force me into doing it for you." "Eagan, shut up. If we start fighting now we won't get anything done. Don't you remember how long it took to get through the forest because of our 'breaks'?" "Hey there was a perfectly logical explanation for those breaks Nighting Lyre so don't give me any trouble." "Yes, I know I know, the Binding. Now please will you shut up that way we'll be able to finish this quarrel of ours before we end up taking another break?" "Fine. . . . Great, now I sound like I've become your - ." "Shhh! did you hear that?" "Hear what?" "That. It's actually like a combination of sound and feeling." "What do you mean?" "It's like I feel something pulling me toward the wall on the other side of the bed, and I hear a voice that keeps urging me to look there. It's as though it were telling me that's where the mirror is hidden." She glances at Eagan who stands staring unblinkingly at her in stupefaction for a number of minutes before shaking his incomprehension from his mind. Looking at her he replied, "I don't think we should look there then." "Why not? One simple glance behind the bed couldn't hurt." "It could if there were something evil in the wake of it" "What are you talking about?" "I read about evil creatures and such that force women to take a gander at them, and when they do they inflict a most extreme amount of pain on them." "Well then you look behind there." "But what if it's a being that uses women to capture their male rations?" "Then we'll open it together." "But what if it decides to eat both of us?" "What if it's the mirror?" "I really hate your logic sometimes, and you still haven't answered my last question." "You want me to answer? Fine. at least we'll die together." "Not funny." "You're right it's not, you need to stop thinking with such despondency as well, seeing as how it does become annoying." "Okay could we please stop fighting and get this over with?" "Fine you get that end of the bed and I'll get this one." "Fine." "Fine." Together they carefully moved the bed away from the wall, and saw something more terrifying than any shade of pink and a thousand times more macabre than the halls. The very thing they had been searching for. The Mirror of Outer Charms and Inner Curses. "Well?" Eagan asked, with a mixed look of fear and confusion on his face. "Well what?" "Aren't you going to grab it?" "Why do I have to grab it?" "Because it's your mirror! Isn't it?" "Actually," said a voice too calm to be either of theirs, "It's not." They turned slowly back toward the mirror and saw what seemed to be a man trapped within the mirror. He had dirty-blonde hair and eyes that seemed to be made of sterling silver. Since it seemed to her that Eagan was just a bit too shocked for words, Nighting Lyre decided to continue upon what the mirror said. "What do you mean you're . . . it's not"? "I mean that it doesn't belong to you nor anyone else, for its true wielder." "That's bushwa, this mirror and it's brother mirror were created for my mother." "Wrong, the Two Brother Mirrors, also known as the Mirror of Outer Charms and Inner Curses and the Mirror of Outer Curses and Inner Charms, were once one mirror. It was called the Mirror of Sidra, it was created for your mother, but the magician that crafted it put a spell upon it so only the true queen of Sidrylinystica could wield it. When he gave it to Queen Morning Harp it split into the Two Brother Mirrors, proving that the True Queen is yet to be born. I've told the sorceress how to bring the mirrors back together again, but in order for it to work I have to be released from this mirror, and Morning Harp must be released from the other. The sorceress will set us free, thinking that she has gained control of the greatest of all powers." "Are you certain?" "No. No one can be certain of what a evil sorceress is thinking." "Is she why you're in the mirror?" Eagan dared to speak after having been scared stiff by another soul having been trapped in a mirror. "Was she the one that trapped you in the mirror"? "No." "Who was it then?" "Queen Morning Harp of Sidrylinystica, she did it to protect me." "Were you good friends?" "You could say it that way I suppose." Eagan was about to ask how he would put it when a pair hands made of blood reached out from the mirror and pulled Nighting Lyre in. It pulled her in farther and farther passed the point of where Eagan could no longer hear her screaming. "Nighting Lyre!" He called out, but it was too late the man in the mirror had already hidden his face away and there was no way to stop what would happen to him next. For Eagan could hear the sorceress out in the hall calling to the guards to arrest whoever was within her bedchambers. Two of the guards took hold of Eagan, he put up the best fight he could without using his powers. He fought to stay by the mirror his true love was now within. He screamed back many things, but the only thing that shall be repeat unto you is this: "Why have you stolen my Nighting Lyre away from me?" The guards dragged him from the room before he had a chance to hear the man in the mirror answer Eagan's question to himself in a low sigh. "Would you yourself not do the same, to protect your only child"? Nighting Lyre awoke bemused and confused, but she did not move. She kept her eyes closed as tightly as possible listening for any unworldly creature that may be lurking near her. For what seemed like hours she lay there thinking over how she had gotten into this cursed place. However, the thought only brought her terrible headaches, and just as she began to slip back into sleep again she felt something being tied around her. She opened her eyes and was so shocked by what was going on she could not move or make any sound. For as she slept the trees had brought down their handlike branches upon her and entwined themselves about her, they had then brought her up into the air so that none bellow could see her. She was like a caterpillar, but unwillingly trapped within its cocoon, unable to escape. "Let my daughter go!" she heard a man from below call out. She was just barely able to turn her head and catch a glimpse of the stranger. It surely was only a glimpse, for as soon as she laid eyes on him a branch slapped her face causing her to turn away and then wrapped itself around her head so she could not see. It was then she realized the branches begin to tighten around her entire body. The yelling from bellow had died down when the branches blocked off hearing to her ears, and she found it becoming insreasinhgly difficult to breathe. Then the branches began to become very tight around her waist and stomach, and it didn't take long for her to realize that the Binding was handling the situation. As suddenly as she had grasped that she was captive in a tree the branches about her browke and withered away. She fell into a very large and very soft pile of leaves without injury, and was able to recognize that to save her life the Binding had given her the grace of being with child. The physical features of which had broken her unearthly, yet very earthy, fastenings. It wasn't until she tried to stand up that she recognized the fact that the man from the mirror was reaching out both his hands to help her. She quickly recalled his face as the one she saw for only a split second just minutes before the Binding had taken shape. After remembering who he was she remembered something else about him, and after what had happened she was filled with a boldness she never felt before. "Were you referring to me when you said daughter, or were you talking to some other demonic tree"? Nighting Lyre didn't realize she had even asked the question until he answered her with a very slow nod and lowered eyes. There were a few minutes of silence as his hands felt the lump of her belly now holding something very blessed and pure. "So," he began, "you really have been Bound." "Yes, sir." "Please, don't call me sir." "What should I call you? This is the first time we've ever met, I hardly know you so I can hardly call you 'father'." "I know, you were a year old when I last saw you. Now look at you, up against a crazy wretch of a woman and a short time away from the day this son of yours will enter the world." "How do you know I carry a son?" "The Binding will always give a son." "Never a daughter?" Nighting Lyre said, somewhat disappointed. "Only if it's the second time it's the only way of keeping you alive. This was the first time being pregnant could save you, if it happens again you will have a daughter." "I know that I am Bound to Eagan, but does that mean I can't have children the normal way with him?" "Of course not! If both of you want to have another child at the same time for even a minute you will conceive a girl the next time you . . . Well . . . you know." "Yes, I do know. Will I have a girl every time we do it . . . naturally?" "Only if you neither of you wants a son." "It's nice to have these questions answered." Nighting Lyre stated, then she noticeda look in her father's eyes that suggested he was a little uncomfortable with the conversation. "So what should I call you?" she asked. "Well, you could call me father, but we hardly know each other well enough for you to call me that. So just call me by my first name." "Which is?" "Grupint, your mother used to called me 'Groupy' but stopped when she couldn't breathe anymore from laughing, just as your trying not to right now." It was true, Nighting Lyre was holding her hand tightly against her mouth at the thought of this older man being called "Groupy". She was shaking so hard from trying not to laugh that her father started laughing at the sight of her face going red and her knuckles going white from the tight grip. After a while she couldn't take it anymore and burst out laughing. Eventually she calmed down to giggling, and then to very heavy breathing from the loss of air to her lungs. It was then htat her father thought it best to send her on her way to a safer place. "Now listen carefully, Nighting Lyre, unless you don't want to leave this place. We are in the midst of what was one the great White Wood which once was located to the West of the castle, when your mother was sent into the mirror that wood which brought us together went in after her and became this world. It is haunted by the Whispering Winds which your mother was once mistress of, and can only be so again if she is freed from the mirror. The Whispering Winds is magic itself brought together and Bound to serve a common purpose. There is no purpose without its mistress. You must follow this path and not stray from it. You must try to avoid the confusion of the Whispering Winds and the physical rudeness of the Whimperig Willows." "Good tip." And with that Nighting Lyre was off to try and save her parents, her lover, herself, and her unborn child. Nighting Lyre stayed on the trodden path as best she could, but had to take a few steps off in order to avoid the limbs of the Whimpering Willows. Every time she did this she got lost for about half an hour at a time. This happened because the Whispering Wind was constantly pushing her into different directions, and it sounded as though it were hundreds of voices from the long forgotten past were all arguing with each other about what direction she should go. Another reason she kept losing her way was that the Whimpering Willows were moving of their own accord, but not as descreetly as when Eagan had been moving the trees so that she ended up circling the cottage so many times. As soon as she thought of Eagan, feelings of unconquerable determination to get him back caused her to forget all that was going on around her and continue on her journey without any complications. It wasn't until she reached her mother that she realized how dark it was and tired she was. She was so tired, in fact, she collapsed from her utter exhaustion from having to walk so long with a baby strapped to her insides.  
  
When Nighting Lyre awoke her head was resting on her mother's lap, and Morning Harp was stroking her hair with the smoothness and gentility all mothers bear. "Good morning, Nighting Lyre. You had me worried I'd lost you when you fell unconscious. I understand why you fell in a faint though, but you need to gather your strength for what you need do to get out of here." Her mother had only started off with friendly greeting to slightly lessen the harshness of getting rid of her, but Nighting Lyre understood that it was for her own good. So she merely replied, "What do I need to do?" "You need to drink this elixir, it will speed up this process your in so it will be easier for you to get out of here," her mother said. Nighting Lyre didn't question her mother so she drank it. It tasted sweet like honey for only a second and then a sudden painful lurching started in her womb. Nighting Lyre screemed for Eagan and clutched at her womb only to find it was just as flat as it had been before the Binding saved her, the pain had stopped, and she heard the silent crying of her new-born son. "Keagan," she said, "my son. Please let me hold him." Nighting Lyre leaned against a nearby tree and took her son from his grandmother. "Keagan," she said again. The name had just come to her as soon as she saw him. He was beautiful, looking just like his father but with her eyes. She began to cry out of joy of having a son, and out of woe since Eagan wasn't there to welcome their son into the world. Yet he was given the name that would let the world know of his heritage. Queen Morning Harp took her grandson from Nighting Lyre and took him to a nearby pool to clean him, Nighting Lyre had not lost any strength from the birth and had questions but knew they would have to be answered later. She stood up, holding out her arms she expected to have her baby handed back to her only to be met with her mother shaking her head no. "What do you mean 'no'?" Nighting Lyre asked, "Mother, please give me my son." "It's time for you to leave. Keagan will be safer here than out there, even with all the enchantments of Eagan's clan." Nighting Lyre knew she was right but couldn't bear to leave without her son. "Can I stay here then with him, I'm his mother I have a right to be with my own child." "You do have that right, but you have work to do with the rest of your new family to save us all. Until these things are done you will never truly be able to enjoy the time spent with your son because you know your family's vulnerability to the queen. I swear to you, upon my soul, your son, my grandson, is safe with me." Nighting Lyre had to agree with this because she knew her mother was right. Yet that was her son, and she wasn't going to let anyone keep him away from her. "Mother," she started it off defiant, and hoped she'd end with a bolder defiance, "I am taking my son with me so I can watch over him while doing what I need to do. Don't give me any 'buts' about this, Keagan is coming with me and that is final." "But - " "Hey! What did I just say?" "That you're taking your son with you, and no 'buts' about it." "That's right," Nighting Lyre took Keagan from her mother's arms. "Now what do I do to get out of here." "I'm not exactly sure." "What's that supposed to mean?" "It means I don't know, Lord Madison has been trying to figure it out for a long time now. he has a theory, but he's not sure about it yet." "What do I have to do?" "You have to convince a Whimpering Willow to push you through . . ." "Through what?" "They whole in the sky." Nighting Lyre followed her morther's finger to the large hole in the sky above them. "Have you tried it?" Nighting Lyre asked. "No, if something were to happen to the other mirror while your father's in it I have sworn to be in the mirror while Lord Madison does the same thing to the mirror we are in." "So it looks like it's up to me then, Kiddo," she said to Keagan and he released a little giggle that made her heart leap up into her throat. Nighting Lyre left Keagan with her mother while she went to find a Whimpering Willow that was willing to "push" her and Keagan through the hole in the sky. While she was looking for a cooperative Whimpering Willow, Nighting Lyre thought of the future of her son were she to succeed in defeating the sorceress. As soon as the thought of where her mother had gotten the clothing her son was wearing she came a upon a willow that was thrice as big as any other tree in the White Woods. She walked under its low hanging branches and saw that its trunk had a face like that of an anciently aged man. As she looked a little closer she noticed that it seemed to be sleeping. "Excuse me," she said silently, but no sooner had she voiced those words were heavy willow branches like thick strips of wet leather were wrapped around her from the elbows down and she was hanging upside down in the air like a piñata. "What do you want?" said a a very gruff and grumpy tone of voice from the tree. Red beedy little eyes like ripe cherries stared unblinkingly at her. Only the thought of getting her child out of here was holding her together from a total breakdown of fear. "I am Princess Nighting Lyre, daughter to King Grupint and Queen Morning Harp the Mistress of The Whispering Winds. I have come to ask you a favor." "A favor, eh? Why didn't you say so in the first place? I thought you were here as an enemy." What's the favor?" "I need to push my newborn son and I through the hole in the sky." "Is that all?" "I wouldn't mind you're getting the other trees to stop attacking people unless they knew for a fact the person they're attacking is an enemy." "It's done, where's your son se we can do this?" "With my mother in a clearing just East of here. Oh, and one more thing." "Yes?" "Could you please put me down? Being upside down for this long is really giving me a headache." The Willow chuckled a little as his eyes went green and he put Nighting Lyre down. Afterwards, she went and got Keagan and brought him back to the Whimpering Willow. His eyes were brown by the time she got back and Keagan laughed his little laugh as the Willow's branches lifted them up into the air and pushed them through the hole in the sky. Having been pushed up it seems only right to say that they were dropped down onto Eagan's bed, this only caused a more forceful laugh out of Keagan and a smile from Nighting Lyre that things had gone so well. A moment later Leah, or Mother Nature, walked in with a broad smile on her face. "Nighting Lyre you've returned safely! Is this my little grandson. He's as handsome as his father, but he's got your eyes, Dear. Oh, where is Eagan? I want to congratulate him for having such a darling little boy." "Oh, Leah," she began, but she couldn't continue. She didn't know how to, but somehow Leah did. "Don't worry, Dear. We'll get him back, I'll just put Keagan in the crib with Willis and Wilson." "Leah, how did you know Keagan's name?" "The same way you came to name him. It just comes to you, and stop calling me Leah. I much prefer Mother Nature." Leah left the room leaving Nighting Lyre to be greeted by Lord Madison, the rest of the family, and even Laird. Laird had earthen hair, just like all of his sons, but with strands of silver spontaneously-strategically placed to look as though his hair were sprinkled with a silvery frost. His eyes were gray, kind, and youthful with crinkles at the corners from his constant smiling, and he was even kinder than he looked. "Hello, Laird." "Hello, Nighting Lyre, I'm very pleased to meet you. Now exactly how did it happen that the Binding gave you son"? "It saved me from the clutch of a Whimpering Willow." "It saved you? Poor Keagan then." "Why"? "When the Binding uses a child to save a woman from death the child is given the ability to see into the future. The only problem is they're only able to foresee their own death." "Poor Keagan." "I know how you you feel," Davan said. She was narrow of waist with little feet, and small hands like that of a gypsy. She had long blonde hair with bits of brown, and big brown eyes with long eyelashes. She smiled gently, but sadness lurked in hiding within her eyes that reflected nothing (much like the eyes of a unicorn). "You not only know," Nighting Lyre began, "but you feel it two-fold." "Davis and Dawson," said David, "my strong boys won't be able to truly enjoy life because they're constantly thinking about their own end. They even have nightmares every night." David had sad eyes like his wife, Davan, but they were a much darker shade of blue than Eagan's eyes; his hair was a brownish-red that seemed a trick of the light, for it was red one minute and brown the next. "Is that why the other twins were having nightmares when I first met all of you?" David brought Davan and Nighting Lyre downstairs to talk with the rest of the family. "That's exactly why." It was William that spoke. He had kind gray eyeslike his father, Laird, and had the same earthen like hair. "There's nothing more terrifying than hearing your newborn child screaming for you, believing it's the time of its own death. You'll get your own taste of that fear tonight. I don't mean to frighten you or anything, but it's very true." Nighting Lyre wished his words weren't true. He wished his words were as false as his eyes were blue with gray at the edge of his irises, and hadn't been told as flatly as his hair was brown. "Is it worse than knowing how all of you're loved ones will die?" Nighting Lyre asked Dixon not knowing that such was his fate. "No, knowing the death of your loved ones is much worse. Their foreseeings will have only a physical effect on them, but foreseeing all of your deaths brings nightmares of the emotional pain that must be endured repeatedly. Such is the way I suffer." Scrawny little Dixon was the first of all the children that had spoken to Nighting Lyre. She bit her tongue and tried to hold back the tears as she looked at this young boy, but the teas disappeared when he smiled at her and said, "Don't worry, no on that dwells within this house has a horrific death they can't avoid with dangerous consequences, including you and yours." At this Nighting Lyre dropped to her knees and hugged the boy so tightly his bones could've broken, but weren't. As tears of joy flooded from her eyes there was a knock at the front door of the cottage.. Lord Madison cautiously opened the door and fell down dead, He then sat upright very suddenly and said in a monotone voice, "The same will happen to Eagan if the Mirror of Outer Curses and Inner Charms is not brought to me at once. You have but an hour to decide his fate. This message was brought to you by some means of the sorceress." When the message finished Lord Madison fell down completely dead once more, never to awaken. At first, Nighting Lyre shed tears from having lost the man who raised her, and then anger and fear that it would happen to Eagan. Before anyone could stop her she grabbed the mirror from off the table and ran out the door knowing there was no way to plan an attack, when she stepped out the door took to the air unknowingly. She was only aware of her need to get Eagan back. Laird, Leah, Harold, Harmony, Adam, Adamina, David, Davan, Benjamin, Benita, Richard, Rianna, and William ran out the door after her, and Willow stayed behind only long enough to tell the children to stay in the house and not go anywhere. They did as they were told. The sorceress waited outside the castle with Eagan. He was blindfolded, gagged, and his hands were tied behind his back so that there was no chance of his being able cast any spells and or escape. She thought she knew exactly what she needed to do in order to obtain the greatest power of them all, but more or less she actually assumed she knew. "Hey, Moron"! It was Nighting Lyre, she called out to the sorceress just as she was about to kill him, "I thought you wanted this." She held up the mirror, and as soon as the sorceress saw the mirror it was out of Nighting Lyre's hand and in her. Just then the Mirror of Outer Charms and Inner Curses appeared hovering between the sorceress and Eagan. The sorceress brought the hand mirror back behind her and threw it into the other one. The mirrors became one and spun suspended in the air and Nighting Lyre's parents fell out from within. With them came the great White Woods, which returned to its rightful place, and the Whispering Winds that enveloped Eagan in its magic and dissolved his physical restraints. Free, Eagan ran willingly and happily to Nighting Lyre's arms, overjoyed to hold her in his arms once more. Nighting Lyre's parents run toward them happy to be freed, but their smiles fade as they hear the sorceress laughing. They look back and see the mirror has stopped spinning, itnow loks like a large reflective sphere hanging in midair. It thrust itself in to the ground going deeper and deeper, and at the moment it hit the ground Eagan's family came Bounding up to them. The sorceress stopped laughing and realized she had been tricked. She looked up at the group of people standing before her, brought her arms up to perform a spell, and aimed to kill Nighting Lyre. Just before the spell reached her, Grupint jumped in front of her and took the shot. Morning Harp screamed a blood curdling scream for having lost her husband, but before she could go after the sorceress Nighting Lyre and Eagan grabbed her from behind and began running back into the woods. Eagan's brothers and sisters-in-law couldn't get away in time, for the sorceress sent a spell after them that sent them straight to the castle dungeons where they were trapped. Eagan, Nighting Lyre, and Morning Harp disappeared into the woods before the sorceress could take a shot at them, but she had something special planned for Nighting Lyre anyway. When they got back to the cottage the children were all in the front room waiting for them, and weren't at all surprised to see that the three of them were the only ones to return. They didn't expect, however, Queen Morning Harp in an absolute wreck over the loss of her husband. Barry, Harry, and Parry and helped Nighting Lyre get her mother to bed so she and Eagan could talk about what they needed to do next. When Nighting Lyre returned all the children had gone upstairs to give them privacy. "We have a son"? Eagan asked. "Yes," Nighting Lyre replied, "his name is Keagan, he looks just like you but with my eyes." "How beautiful his eyes must be." He hugged Nighting Lyre and didn't let go, for happy was he for a moment of peace spent alone with the woman he loved. "We have a son," he said again. "We have a son," she whispered to herself. "Wait a minute," Eagan began. "How is it that we have a son"? Nighting Lyre told him everything that had happened since they last saw eachother. When she finished, all Eagan could say was, "Poor Keagan." "And poor Willis, Wilson, Davis, Dawson, and Dixon," Nighting Lyre replied. "Where is my son"? he asked. "Leah put him with the Twins, Willis and Wilson. You go check on the children, and I'll go check on Mother," and so the two departed. Eagan was overjoyed with his son, and Nighting Lyre's heart hit the ground as she looked at her mother asleep on a pillow soaked with tears that was still crying. Nighting Lyre put the covers that had been kicked off the bed over her mother, and kissed Morning Harp's forehead. She went back to the front room of the cottage and sat down in a chair next to the door, but Eagan wasn't there. He's probably still upstairs, she thought to herself. Then she noticed an old beggar-woman outside. She looked lost and Nighting Lyre couldn't help but to offer her some assistance. "I'm not lost," the beggar-woamn said, "but am looking for someone to buy my apples." "I'd be more than happ to buy one, but I have no money." "That's alright, have one on me. That way, if I ever come back, you'll know my apples are worth the money." Nighting Lyre looked at the beggar-woman's basket, all of the apple's looked so gorgeous she thought he'd never decide. As soon as this thought crossed her mind she noticed an apple that looked particularly sinful. "That one," she said. Without any true knowledge of what she was doing she bit into the apple. The apple was a blend of the most exotic of flavors, but just as she was about to take a second bite the poison hidden within the apple killed her and the first bite was lodged into her throat. The beggar-woman, actually the sorceress, disappeared, and Nighting Lyre lay lifeless on the floor with the apple in hand. Eagan, hearing the thud of Nighting Lyre falling, ran to her side only to find her, apparently, dead. Nighting Lyre"! he screamed, clutching at her in his arms, weeping over her. Morning Harp and the children ran downstairs finding only Eagan and the cause of his own heartache. "Don't worry, Uncle Eagan," said Dixon. "She is not dead for it is not yet her time. See how her heart beats but she herself does not breathe. The Binding has made it so, instead of suffering death, she experiences the peace of the Sleeping Death." "The Sleeping Death," said Queen Morning Harp, "Is that all? Well that's easily fixed." She told Eagan of how she was not only Queen of Sidrylinystica and Mistress of the Whispering Winds, but also the Grand High Priestess of the Temple of Everlasting Unity (where the spell of the Binding was first cast by the ancient queen, Sidra). The temple was located in the heart of the White Woods, where the Whispering Winds and the Binding reigned supreme in power. Eagan picked up Nighting Lyre, and he and the children followed Morning Harp as she led them to the temple. Eagan walked as in a trance staring straight ahead unblinkingly, fighting back tears that burned his eyes like acid. The children walked in tears behind him, Davis carried Willis and Dawson carried Wilson, both tried not to cry aloud and set the younger two off, and Morning Harp carried Keagan. After what seemed like hours, they finally reached the Temple of Everlasting Unity. "You must go in alone, Eagan," Morning Harp said. "What do I when I get in there?" he asked. "What you feel is the right thing to do." At those words he entered into the temple to try to save his beloved Nighting Lyre. The glass offering box on the altar was padded and long enough for Nighting Lyre to lay comfortably in. He laid her down in the box and closed its translucent cover. It looked as though she lay in a coffin made of glass with true blue cushions on the inside. He knelt on the ground before the glass coffin and wept, and as he wept he prayed for Nighting Lyre to awaken and return to him. As he praid a unicorn entered the temple. It was white as snow, had butterfly wings, golden deer hooves, and a golden horn protruding from the center of its brow. "Would do anything for this woman"? the unicorn asked. "Yes," Eagan replied. "Prove to her your eternal love," and with that a ring of fire flared up, surrounding where Nighting Lyre lay. Eagan knew what he had to do annd stepped forward, he walked through the wall of flames and stood beside Nighting Lyre. "I love you, Princess Nighting Lyre of Sidrylinystica." When he said this the flames vanished and the unicorn uproached the altar Eagan stood at and Nighting Lyre laid on. The unicorn crooked its neck, and just as its horn touched the glass, the glass became a hundred thousand blue irises. Eagan thought he heard Nighting Lyre cough from within the iris coffin, and indeed she had. Nighting Lyre coughed a second time, and the third time she coughed, the bit of apple within her throat turned into a white dove and flew away. Just as the dove touched the irises, the irises melded together and became a baby girl. She had hair made of strands of pure gold, and eyes like the hundred thousand sapphire blue irises that had encased Nighting Lyre. Nighting Lyre awoke and looked at the little girl that lay in her lap. "Hello, Iris," she said, "Hello, Eagan. This is our daughter, Iris." "Yes it is," began the unicorn. "She was born to save your life, usually this would mean that the child knows its own end. However, this child was made out of the purest of all kinds of love, the kind of love Sidra, the ancient queen, experienced. With the pure birth of Iris, your nephews have been relieved of their foreseeings that would have brought them great woe. In the same way has your son, her brother, been freed. She is your pure love, and the spell of the Binding, combined and personified. She will live forever in the Light of Everlasting Unity, and live to be a great queen until she gives the throne to her brother." After the unicorn's speech, Nighting Lyre and Eagan left the temple with their daughter. When they were outside, Morning Harp handed Keagan to Eagan and went into the temple, never to be seen or heard from again. For she surrendered her soul to the Whispering Winds, that she may dwell forever with her own true love, the late King Grupint. Then, Nighting Lyre and Eagan lead the children to the castle, where the little dove had flown from Nighting Lyre's throat and pecked out the eyes of the sorceress. There was great jubilation in the freeing of Eagan's family and the wedding of Nighting Lyre to Eagan. At the wedding, a pair of iron shoes were heated alongside the roast and then put on the sorceress feet. The children were sent to bed and she was forced to dance in the iron shoes until she dropped down dead. After her death many thought all of their woes was over. Iris and Keagan grew into a life that required they fight their own fight against a doer of evil, but that's another story. With Nighting Lyre and Eagan living happily ever after, behind closed doors.  
  
The End, For the most part that is. 


End file.
